Prior art methods of collecting and gathering solar energy over large areas of land include the following:
(1) Solar energy is collected by hot plate absorbers in which solar energy is converted to heat. The heat either boils a liquid or raises the temperature of a fluids, and by corradiating in either case this hot fluid, energy is brought to a common heat recovery plant.
(2) Solar energy is collected by means of parabolic or paraboloidal mirrors and is converted to heat in a focal absorber in which either the temperature of a fluid is raised or a liquid is boiled. In either case the hot fluid is corradiated as in 1.
(3) Solar energy is collected by flat mirrors or near flat mirrors by means of which the radiant energy is redirected to a common focal absorber usually elevated. The heat energy is recovered from the absorber by means of a heat exchanging fluid.
In Australian Patent Specification No. 495395, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,993 which corresponds thereto, there is disclosed a solar energy collection system in which a fluid dissociates endothermically and subsequently recombines exothermically into an undissociated fluid, comprising:
(a) means for introducing the undissociated fluid, at elevated temperature, into an absorber-reaction vessel, PA0 (b) means for focussing solar radiation onto the absorber-reaction vessel, PA0 (c) means operable from a master control for controlling the orientation of the means for focussing solar radiation, PA0 (d) means for conducting the fluid from the absorber-reaction vessel through a first counterflow heat exchanger to effect cooling, PA0 (e) means for conducting the fluid to a reaction chamber wherein partial recombining of the dissociated products occurs with release of heat energy, PA0 (f) a separator for separating undissociated fluid and dissociated fluid, PA0 (g) means for returning dissociated fluid to the reaction chamber, PA0 (h) means for returning undissociated fluid to the first heat exchanger so as to heat it prior to entry into the absorber-reaction vessel, PA0 (i) means for maintaining the fluid at superatmospheric pressure, PA0 (j) means for recovering heat energy from the reaction chamber. PA0 Carden, P. O. (1981). Energy Conversion Technical Report No. 23, Department of Engineering Physics, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. PA0 Carden, P. O. and Williams, O. M. (1978). Int. J. Energy Research 2, 389-406. PA0 Williams, O. M. (1978). Solar Energy 20, 333-342. PA0 Williams, O. M. (1981). Solar Energy 27, 205-214. PA0 Williams, O. M. and Carden, P. O. (1979). Int. J. Energy Research 3, 29-40.
In the above context, a fluid which dissociates is a fluid a component of which undergoes dissociation into simpler constituents, the whole, however, remaining fluid. The simpler constituents subsequently recombine to form the undissociated fluid having the same composition as the original fluid.
More recently research workers at The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, have published several articles relating to developments in thermochemical energy transfer--